Falling Asleep
by HopeBartonMockingbird1999
Summary: Fourteen year old Hope Barton is mortally wounded by Loki. The young assassin winds up in an intense coma, and the rest of the Avengers figure out just how much they really care about and love her. Also Clint gets depressed and feels shit goes down. Please read the whole story and review! Clintasha, Clint/OC, Peter/OC, Pepperony, rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

Falling asleep Ch. 1  
Peter  
Two years had passed since Loki had tried to take over the world, this was the second attempt. He had gathered what was left of his chatari army and a small group of rebelling asgardians. In Hope to gain Thanos' and therefore Death's trust. He had to slay The avengers. That was the only way he could redeem himself enough not to be killed. He knew that the avengers were prepared, that they had gained a new member. However, Loki had a plan in his sleeve.

Peter Parker stood proudly by the chrysler building, feeling the brisk January air against his tanned skin. He patiently waited for a cue from Tony to weave a net between two buildings. This net was designed to trap a large portion of fliers. The fliers would become hopelessly tangled, and then Thor would electrocute the trap. Peter shot the last web and attached it to the concrete bricks below him.

"Parker, you got that trap ready?" Tony asked with the transistor in Peter's ear.

"Ready and secure!" Peter excitedly answered. He watched in silence as the red-suited billionaire quickly wove his way in between holes in the netting. Almost the entire group was eventually caught in the sticky material. Peter smiled as the webbing caught electricity and lit up the entire street with whitish glow. Peter focused again and placed a finger on his transistor earpiece.

"Hope, are you ok?" He asked.

"Bitch I might be!" Came the cocky response. Peter couldn't help but crack up. He loved her. He made his way to her location while agent Romanov and Rogers were grappling the invading chatari by 5th ave.

Peter shot the synthesized web from his wrists, smothering the faces and weapons of the chatari. He kept a close eye on the little sandy brown haired assassin in training. Mockingbird could take care of herself, but she was still small. As Peter swung in between buildings, he thought back to something Hope's uncle, Clint Barton, had said.

"Peter, when we fight, Hope has a tendency to stray away, the aliens think she's weak because of her small complex. I want you to keep a sharp eye and stay nearby her. I don't want her to get hurt."

Peter had promised; he really enjoyed how Hope was constantly poking fun at any and all subjects, including ones about herself. The other day, in fact, he had overheard Tony teasing Hope about being nerdy for answering a complicated question correctly, to which she scoffed and replied without batting an eye: "you're right Tony, I am correct, but I'd rather be a smartass than a dumbass."

As Peter landed safetly beside Hope on the ground, a massive flying worm-like creature flew around the Chrysler building. Off of its scaly, metal plated back rose three chatari and Loki himself. The god and creatures landed around the two young avengers. Peter thought to himself, 'it's no problem, we can take them!' he shot two of the aliens with webbing and flung their skulls together. They crashed into each other and were killed on impact.

Hope flung her battle stave at the third, throwing it backwards several feet. It lay dazed in the dust. Peter turned and watched as everything almost slowed down. Hope had turned around towards Loki. She threw her fist at his head, yet he caught it just in time. He quickly took control of her other wrist in his grasp. Hope gasped and struggled, but Loki just smiled. Peter knew that kind of smile could only hold horrors. He was correct.

Loki gripped onto his staff and threw the tip furiously upward into the young girl's midsection. Hope's eyes widened. Peter was paralyzed with fear as he saw the tip of the spear poke through the back of her suit, breaking at least two ribs on its path. Loki twisted the scepter out of Hope's abdomen, glistening and dripping dark scarlet blood. He then vanished completely, far, far away from Peter and Hope.

"no..." Peter quietly murmured as he stared at the wounded girl.

She looked up at him, pure agony and fear twisted in her eyes. Her lips began to moisten with small droplets of blood as she keeled over and coughed onto the worn asphalt ground, her joints at her elbows bent, and she fell onto the ground on her stomach, still coughing up blood. Peter gently knelt down by the gasping fourteen year old girl.

"I made a promise! This shouldn't have happened!" Peter thought as he frantically tried to stop the steady flow of blood pulsing from Hope's possibly fatal wound. Little did the occupied heroes know, they were being stalked by another threat. The chatari that Hope had dazed only moments earlier screeched at Peter, seconds from driving its weapon into the base of the spider's skull.

Just as it was about to attack poor Peter, a flying arrow whizzed past his wavy brown hair, nailing the enemy in the face. It was Clint, who had only seen a target. Peter turned his attention back to his coughing friend, tears beginning to fall down the seventeen-year-old's face.

"Hope, please be okay, please don't be hurt, you matter too much to me. You matter too much to Clint," he sniffed. "And Natasha, and Steve, and Bruce, and... Please, Hope, please don't die..." Peter pressed his hand even harder into Hope's side. She painfully smiled at him...Peter felt his heart being ripped apart furiously. He realized to himself how much he cared for her.

Peter watched in fear as Clint shot a grappling hook arrow into the side of the nearest building. He knew that the hawk would blame him for this. Clint landed and trotted over to meet him, a very pissed off expression on his face.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" He scolded in a very angry tone. Clint turned and saw what Peter was holding. His face turned deathly white as he realized who it was.

"Oh my god... Hope..." Clint faltered as he saw his little baby crumpled on the ground. Peter still was not sure exactly what had happened. It was just so quick.


	2. Chapter 2

Clint was tightly holding a small child, not really small anymore, she was only 8 inches shorter than him, but whatever. He had always seen the four year old he had been forced to take care of at age 24, since the disappearance of his brother and the murder of his sister in law.

Either way, this small child was now his, and he loved her. More than anything in the world, Clint wanted to keep her safe and happy. Yet, right now, she was dying in the dusty streets of New York.

A deep wound in her abdomen was slowly seeping blood. It had started to clot, which was probably more or less good, but she was still dying, and Clint had no idea what to do. He was no doctor. The archer had never felt so useless, not even the day his own father killed his mother on a drunken rampage.

Clint buried his face into her trembling shoulder. He felt so guilty of himself, so distraught and angry. This was his fault. He hadn't sensed that Hope was in danger in time; and now, he was paying the price for it.

_I'm such an idiot, Hope. Please, just don't die, I love you too much. _He thought bitterly to himself.

Hope slowly drew in a ragged breath, and her agonized eyes focused on him. She gave him a weak smile, and a painful, quiet laugh, marred by a bloody cough. Neither Assassins noticed Peter crying and cursing violently a few feet from them.

Hope smiled and let one hand fall onto the ground. Clint gently slipped his bloody free fingers in between hers. He gripped tightly. Hope's eyes began to slowly cloud over, and Clint calculated in his mind that she had maybe an hour unless she got some sort of medicine immediately. The dark crimson blood oozed slowly from the puncture in her side as Clint struggled to blot the flow a little better with his other hand.

Hope murmured something almost inaudibly, then coughed several times before gasping in pain and groaning. More droplets of blood stained her pinkish lips.

"sing?"

Clint barely nodded, his body was becoming numb with shock. He repositioned his hand over her wound and began to slowly repeat a lullaby he had whispered to her when she was a young child unable to sleep. Clint pulled her closer to his chest as he progressed in the song. Hope gripped tighter onto his hand. She laid her head down on his shoulder and began to hum the beginning of the song.

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(to the tune of "carry on my wayward son, lullaby version")

_"Hush my little mockingbird just, close your eyes._

_Lay down your tired head and sleep tonight._

_Oh, my little darling girl spread out your wings._

_You will fly with me, you'll fly."_

Clint began to breathe heavier, as memories of her filled his mind.

_"If you want a chickadee I'll buy._

_If you have a nightmare just don't cry._

_Little darling girl, I'll always be there._

_To hold on tight and stroke your hair"_

Memories flowed like the tears staining his face, running into the lines of age, caused by worry and fear.

_"Hush my little mockingbird, beware._

_danger's out and trying to hurt anywhere._

_little darling girl, please can't you see?_

_I want you safe with me"_

Tears dripped from his horrified face and landed on Hope's cheek. Her eyes were sleepy now.

_"Hush my little mockingbird just, close your eyes._

_Lay down your tired head and sleep tonight._

_Oh, my little darling girl spread out your wings._

_You will fly with me"_

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Clint gently stroked his niece's dirty hair. Her dark brown eyes faded and lost their light. They began to flicker shut, and her head relaxed on his shoulder. Clint moaned loudly and begged her quietly.

"No! Don't leave me now! Just stay awake long enough to get to the hospital! Then the doctors will fix you right up! You'll see, you're gonna be fine Hope, trust me! You'll be ok."

Hope smiled at him through closed, exhausted eyes. She relaxed her grip on his hand. Clint placed one hand on top of her limp forearm.

"Don't worry, Clint. Be good, I love you..." She barely uttered before slipping into bloodloss shock.

Clint let out a low cry. He pressed his lips onto Hope's unconscious forehead. He barely whispered into her ear before breaking down and crying loudly.

"I love you too...

_"Hush my little mockingbird just close your eyes,_

_lay down your tired head and sleep tonight,_

_oh, my little mockingbird spread out your wings,_

_you will fly with me..."_


	3. Chapter 3

sorry, it gets interesting in the next chapter

Falling asleep Ch.3  
Natasha

Surprised people stared at the filthy guests as they slowly trudged through the automatic doors. Natasha looked around wearily at the mourning people. Some were bleeding, dirty, but more or less happy that everything had ended.

Natasha limped up to the front desk. Her comerads, Steve and Peter, slowly hobbling up behind her.

"where is Hope Barton?" Natasha pleaded to the receptionist, ignoring her shocked face.

"um, I believe she was in the emergency room, but I think they transferred her to the OR a few minutes ago, there was an adult with her, claiming to be her uncle; is that who you're talking about?"

"yes, that's her." Natasha breathed. She slowly made her way over to some empty seats. The cushion felt nice under her sore legs. Natasha sighed, she watched as other people tried to comfort each other. Mothers rocking babies, fathers holding sons, spinsters and brothers clinging anxiously to each other waiting hopelessly for their dead parents to be okay. Natasha felt a tug on her arm, she looked over to find a little boy, no more than four, crying and pulling on her tight black sleeve.

"I can't find my mommy and the doctors said she was happy... But, if she's happy why isn't she here? I want to be happy too, but my arm hurts and I'm sad. When mommy's happy she sings, and that makes me happy." The little boy began to sob. Natasha choked up and turned to Peter.

Peter slid out of his chair and kneeled in front of the boy.

"Buddy, I know how to make you feel happy. Here, just hold onto my mask, it keeps my face safe, that way you can keep your mommy safe when you find her. He replied.

"Thank you mister! I gotta go find mommy now!" the little boy squealed.

"Peter, why did you let him keep your mask?" Steve asked, his forties-style haircut completely messed up from the battle.

"I can make another." Peter murmured. Natasha let her mind wander as she remembered the days events. Tony had taken Bruce and Thor back to Stark Tower to calm them down from seeing Hope in such a condition. As far as the group knew, Clint had dragged Hope into the medical center and was now with her and some doctors to try and save the young assassin.

Natasha placed her hands on her head. Her suit was torn and dirty, and her fiery red hair was now more of a brownish color from dust and debris, trickles of blood made their way into the prints of her fingers.

"Natasha Romanov?"

A male doctor, appearing to be in his early thirties and looking remarkably like Jensen Ackles stepped into the waiting room. He quietly stepped over to the waiting heroes.

"I'm Dr. Panem, ma'am, if you want to come with me. We just put her to sleep and we are now preparing for surgery, would you like to come and see? It would probably be good for her Mr. Barton, If you came. He actually asked for you to come. She's hurt pretty badly. I don't know exactly howmuch we can do." Natasha felt a wave of defeat.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"we don't know, it would be best if you came with me."

Dr. Panem led her down a white hallway, Natasha couldn't help but remember the terrible red room memories she had had of white, sterile walls. They turned down a hallway into the surgical wing. Natasha quickly located her partner. He was standing in front of a large window, tears filling his stormy gray eyes, threatening to spill over. Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder. Clint pressed his forehead against the glass and closed his eyes, letting the tears fall onto the metal window frame.

"She's going to be okay,Clint. Hope is strong, she's gonna pull through. I bet she will wake up after the surgery and start joking and laughing and everything." she noticed his clenched fist. Natasha placed her other hand on his closed hand. He quickly dropped a small metal chain into her outstretched fingers.

"She can't wear any kind of metal during surgery, she was wearing this, and they have it to me." He quietly sobbed. Natasha opened her hand and saw a little gold necklace. A delicate chain wrapped around and securong a metal frame containing a hollow glass heart holding two charms, an arrow and a feather.

This necklace was given to Hope on the day that Clint was granted her custody. He had given it to her when she was four, her birthday, actually. Exactly two and a half weeks after her parents horrible death and disappearance. Natasha covered her mouth with a trembling hand. Tears fell down her face.

"She kept that, for all these years, I'm so sorry Clint. She will be okay, you will see this on her again, I promise." Clint sighed.

"I really hope you're right Tasha." He whispered.

As she drove home, Natasha felt strange, she felt like something or someONE was haunting her in a way, as she flicked on a turn signal. An illuminated piece of foil caught her eye. She located the shine as to be coming from her glove compartment. Natasha opened the small flaps of a glistening red envelope and gasped. Dropping the letter contained inside. Tears flowed down her face and she begged in her car.

"Hope I'm sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry." It was a small birthday card.

Dear Natasha,  
I want to say thank you for training me, it's been the best eight years of my life; you are a very considerate and fair teacher and I hope that you have the best 28th birthday ever with Clint. I remember when you first started training me, you said I was so competent; for being six. I've carried that knowledge ever since and it encourages me on my tough days, so thank you.  
Your friend, student, and  
sister-in-crime,  
~Hope Barton. :)


	4. Chapter 4

This was probably one of my most favorite chapters, Hope you guys like it:) also, I'm very sorry if its not completely accurate in the surgical area, so if you are a doctor, or were one, I'd really like to know if I'm even remotely on track. Preferably via review.

Falling asleep Ch.4  
Hope/Clint

Hope felt a very dull but intense pain in her side. She was laying down on a table, but it was cushioned.

_This is weird, where am I? And why am I laying down?_ Hope thought to herself, trying to voice her thoughts, but all that escaped her reddened lips was a loud moan. The young avenger heard someone sit up, and make their way over to her. She felt a calloused finger caress her cheek ever so gently, this person placed both arms on either side of her damaged torso and kissed her forehead. Hope caught the faint scent of aftershave and deodorant, which, quite frankly, wasn't doing the best job.

Another smell filled her nose. Sour, and salty, a smell that was definitely, a very weak smell of fear. Hope groaned as the cushion shifted and moved her loosely bandaged side as the hands lifted off of the springy bed. She heard some other figures walk into the room she was in. She still didn't know where she was, but judging by the smells of rubbing alcohol, medicine, and blood, she was probably in some kind of hospital.

Hope felt herself being rolled into another sterile-smelling room. She felt her clothes being gently pulled off of her damaged and frail body, and replaced with a papery, strangely soft cloth. Several machines started beeping and dinging as sticky cords were attached to her weak arms. Two were placed on either side of her neck, just under her jawline.

She gasped as a cold piece of metal briefly contacted her skin. A small clamp-like device was fitted around the teenager's finger, and she recognized a heart monitor begin to beep. The repetitive, slow beat annoyed her, she let out a groan of disapproval. This brought the attention of one of he surgeons. Most likely the lead surgeon.

"Sweetheart, you're gonna be fine," the man cooed. She felt his confident, steady hand brush a little group of sweaty, stray hairs from her face back to her bangs. She slowly cracked open her eyes. The man had soft, green eyes that were assuring. She inwardly smiled. He looked a lot like Jensen Ackles. The doctor gave her a warm smile.

"There we go, your uncle said you had pretty eyes, he wasn't lying. Don't worry, Hope, we do this all day. We're good at this kind of stuff, and we're gonna fix you right up!" Ackles doctor gently murmured. He turned his attention back to his work, and pressed two sticky cords on her chest, right over her collarbones. His rubbery, blue gloved fingers stopped, they reached around the back of her head and quickly unclasped her most prized possession.

"Nooo..." Hope weakly moaned before closing her exhausted eyes. She weakly cracked them open again. She met the sharp green gaze of Ackles Doctor.

"It's okay, sweetie, I'm going to give this to your uncle, okay." he quietly reassured as he set the little necklace down on a tray filled with... Surgical stuff, Hope presumed. He started talking with the other surgeons, four others.

Hope's eyes finally fluttered shut as a plastic breathing device was fitted over her nose and mouth. She felt a needle slip into her elbow, but she didn't mind. Hope hadn't ever really feared needles very much. It may have been because she had been injected with several vaccines when she was young. She had had a very weak immune system as a baby, but the vaccines worked so well that now, she very rarely got sick. Hope foggily heard Ackles doctor ask one final question to the other doctors before blacking out.

"Okay, is she sedated enough to start the operat..."

ᎧᎧᎧ

Clint

"Mr. Barton? I'm Dr. Panem" the man who had been talking to Hope before the procedure murmured to Clint. Clint looked up, he had received a text from Peter saying that he, Nat, and Steve had all arrived at the hospital and were currently in the waiting room.

"I think you might want this. She can't wear metal during surgery." Dr. Panem sympathetically said. Clint reached his hand out for whatever was in the doctor's hand. He dropped a small gold chain into his calloused fingers. Clint opened his fist and started to choke up.

"Can you ask if Natasha Romanov can come here?" Clint choked out, barely able to hold back his tears. Quickly putting the necklace in his lap and placing his head intro his trembling hands.

Dr. Panem left to fetch Natasha. Clint stood up and searched in the window viewing the operation for Hope's face... There, Hope's face wasn't in pain, in fact, it had no emotion on it at all. The clear plastic breathing mask over her mouth fogged every few seconds. Assuring Clint that his only kin was alive.

He watched as the doctors proceeded to make various slices in the heavily damaged skin. They began to arrange a series of tubes inside her body, which, given a few seconds, began to fill with dark scarlet. Clint watched, cracking his knuckles over and over. He pressed his forehead to the glass and closed his stormy gray eyes.

_"Hope, if there is anything I can do to keep you safe, I would do it in a heartbeat, you have no idea how much you mean to me. Just, please make it through this surgery, please. Don't die... You're my only family... I love you." _He silently pleaded to himself.

Clint heard the faint sound of wedge heels falling softly on other sterile floor. Another pair of shoes, muffled by scrubs, followed. Clint looked up to Natasha as she wrapped her soft hands around his shoulder. He knew he could share his thoughts with his best friend. Natasha gave people this look that made them cry, or tell the truth even when she wasn't seeking it.

The archer remembered with a pang of guilt that Hope had had that same look. A look of knowing. A look of promise. A look that he very well might not see again on its owner. The owner was still sitting there, unconscious, with five doctors trying, almost in vain compared to her odds, to save her life.

The child who has survived torture, death, and physical breakdown as well as social anxiety like its her second family. And she was dying from a fucking shank? Why? Clint angrily cursed at himself, then let his bitter tears fall as he poured out his heart to his partner, best friend, and overall listener.

He cried to Natasha, because sometimes it's better to cry and let your feelings out, then to keep them pinned up inside, afraid to show your guilt.


	5. Chapter 5

Falling asleep Ch.5  
Peter

The alarm clock beeped loudly, a teenagers sleepy groan a escaped the Brown and white sheets. A hand, belonging to Peter, slammed down onto the off button. Peter pulled the sheets from his face quickly. He rubbed his eyes. the spider grabbed his phone and checked the time. 9:15.

"shit" Peter exclaimed, he was late for school! The high school junior shot upright.

_"Oh, wait, no more school"_ he thought to himself. Peter laid back in bed. He recalled how now that he was an avenger, he would have private lessons from JARVIS for four hours, covering the core classes; then training with Natasha for two. Then do whatever. He sighed, exhausted, then smiled. Today was a Saturday, no school at all. Maybe Hope would want to- BAM! He groaned in pain and grief as he remembered Thursday's events. He glanced out the window. Rain pounded the glass like rocks. Peter moaned and sat up.

"good morning, Agent Parker." JARVIS greeted.

Peter noticed how... Tired, the AI sounded, almost in grief. Peter placed his head in his hands. He knew that Tony had visited Hope last night. The night before, Thursday night, there had been a fight between Steve and the billionaire. He sighed as he remembered the blowout that had occured that day in the main foyer of their level of Stark Tower.

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_Tony and Bruce had been on the couch talking about something sciencey. Natasha, who had been clearly crying and being secretive was in the kitchen, looking for Nutella and bananas, Her comfort food. Peter's comfort food had always been tacos with extra queso and rice. The rice was a new thing for him. He had seen Hope pile rice onto her tacos and tried it. It was pretty good. _

_Steve was quietly informing Thor of what had happened and that Hope was going to be okay. Yet, that wasn't a solid promise. Peter knew that none of the other heroes knew exactly how deep her wound was. How much blood had pulsed out of her body. Not even Clint knew exactly. That was one thing Peter and Hope now shared knowledge of._

_ Director Fury had arrived, and was paying his condolences. Peter watched as he quietly excused Natasha of her duties until she felt more capable. Natasha had begun to argue, but stopped when Fury handed her a formal paper. The Director handed a copy to Peter as well._

_"I know that you saw her get stabbed, Peter. You're in no condition to continue your work. You can come back to SHIELD when you feel ready, this leave of absence will excuse you for one month, in which you are expected to return."_

_ Peter nodded, he turned and watched as Fury handed each team member a similar paper._

_"I can't believe she had to go into surgery" Steve moaned. Finishing his paper and talking to no one in particular._

_"Well, she's hurt! And there's nothing we can do about it, it was stupid of her anyway to try and take on that crazy son of a bitch." Tony angrily mumbled to himself. Peter felt his eyes begin to water in anger as he stared at Stark's snide remark. The other avengers, a beginning with Steve, stared at the billionaire._

_"We could have helped if more of us had been there" Peter quietly sighed After looking down at his taco. His appetite was slowly disappearing. The taco spilled a small crumb of ground beef. He looked up again to see Tony defiantly meeting the gaze of Steve. _

_"Stark, just stop it. For once..." Steve growled through clenched teeth._

_"I don't see why everyone is so upset! You would think assassins like these go through this what? Every week or so?" Tony's snap at Captain Rogers earned him nothing but even angrier stares from all of the others in the room, even Bruce, who usually stood beside Tony on his points._

_"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Natasha furiously replied through tears._

_"Say that again!" The director, true to his name, stated loudly and challengingly._

_"I'm just saying, maybe we are overreacting" Tony flatly stated, with a reply of a bitch slap from Natasha. _

_Peter shrank into the corner of the bar counter with his taco and began chewing on it nervously. No one would argue with a taco. He pulled his knees up to his chest and watched in awe and horror at the scene unfolding before him:_

_Thor led bruce quickly out of the room to calm him down for a while, as he had begun to breathe heavily. Steve punched Tony in the nose and threw him against the wall, Fury watched in pure disappointment. His piercing dark gaze landed on Peter._

_"I'm here with a taco, I didn't start anything." peter murmurThe through a mouthful of cheese, tortilla, beef, and rice. His anger boiling at Tony._

_Steve pressed Tony against the door after a small round of verbal threats. Tony's eyes widened in fear as Steve hissed something in his ear. Tony wriggled out of Rogers' grip and halfway threw his hands up in a fearful shrug._

_"I didn't mean that we should just let her die! I just meant that we might have been overreacting over a smaller injury than we thought!" The playboy lamely reasoned._

_"I WAS THERE, THE SCEPTER POKED THROUGH HER FUCKING BACK, SHE IS GOING TO DIE!" Peter screamed. Steve stopped choking Tony. The two men, Fury, and Natasha stared at Peter with stretched-wide eyes. _

_"I watched Loki stab her, there is NO WAY she could survive a wound like that. She lost way too much blood, and I just watched it happen without doing anything. If anyone deserves to get punched and yelled at, it's me" Peter cried, tears of guilt falling down his face. Sniffing, he wiped his eyes. _

_Natasha slowly stepped toward him. Her beautiful leafy-green eyes full of dismay, fear, and tears of betrayal stared at Peter. _

_"How much blood did she lose?" Her voice faltered. _

_"Uh," Peter stammered._

_"HOW MUCH BLOOD DID SHE LOSE?" Natasha pleaded. _

_"Uh, maybe a quart or two, it was just spread around everywhere I wasn't sure."_

_Natasha swallowed. Peter could almost see the lump forming in her throat._

_"I've known her since she was five... she's like a baby sister to me..." Natasha choked out. Director Fury laid a hand on her shoulder. Momentarily stopping her cries._

_"you all should go to bed, it's late anyway." Natasha nodded, she slumped her trembling shoulders and slipped into the bedroom hallway. Steve bore a furious glare at Tony, then stomped away, following Natasha. A few seconds later a slam resonated throughout the 97th floor._

_"Stark, Parker, you two should go to bed too. The one thing that we need to focus on, is keeping the world safe until both of our birds are better." _

_Tony frowned. Peter watched as he left, was his arc-reactor not glowing? He shrugged and made his way up to his room. Sitting in his bed, Peter caught the sound of loud crying from next door. He swallowed as another lump formed on his throat as he realized that it was Natasha. Crying over her lost sister._

_ᎧᎧᎧ_

Peter slumped back down into his bed, he was rather hungry and could go for some muffins. He rose and tiredly made his way into the kitchen. Peter grabbed four muffins, six pancakes, a cluster of grapes, an apple, and the last half-jug of milk. "Damn, I'm really fucking hungry" he thought himself as he shoved the wild berry muffins in his mouth back in his room.


	6. Chapter 6

Falling asleep Ch.6  
Clint  
The doctors were quietly exchanging words Tto each other. Their white and blue surgical gloves were now drenched in bright red. The lead doctor turned to Clint. He made his way over to the window. Clint raised his tired head from the surface of the glass. He watched as Dr. Panem opened the door and pulled down his face mask.

"Mr. Barton, she pulled through. Her heart stopped twice but she's okay." Clint sighed, his gray eyes relieved.

"So, how long will it be until she wakes up?" Clint asked hopefully. A dark look shadowed over the doctor's golden-green eyes.

"Rhat's the problem, she slipped into a coma about 20 minutes after her heart restarted for the second time. We don't know exactly when she will wake up, I'm sorry." Clint's heart, which had moments earlier threatened to choke him, dropped down, down, lower than the core of the earth. He sharply turned his head to his comatose child. The clear plastic breathing mask was replaced as she was lifted to another bed. It was replaced with a plastic tube in her nose. Clint felt a lump form in his throat as he realized that that was maybe the last thing on her face he would see. He looked back at Dr. Panem.

"Sir, we're doing the best we can, but we can't just wake her up. She has to do that on her own, and she will. I've never seen anyone pull through a two-hour surgery with an injury like that and still not be on life support." Clint nodded. That didn't really help for him.

"Can I see her, when she gets set up, I mean..." The archer choked out. Dr. Panem smiled and led Clint to the children's wing. Clint followed the slightly younger man until they stopped at room 407c. Dr. Panem opened the door. Two nurses were tucking Hope softly into the green sheets. They looked up and hurried out of the room. Clint looked up at Dr. Panem, who smiled.

"Take all the time you want." Clint scooted a wheeled chair up to the bed and sat backwards as the door closed. He gently grasped her warm hand. Clint's eyes welled up as he saw all of the tubes and needles in his baby's tender skin. All the monitors, machines, a liquid drip, two, actually, one full of a clear liquid and one filled with a dark scarlet substance. Clint read the label:

AB+ blood type.

Clint searched the blank face. His heart cracking. He searched for any kind of emotion showing. He longed for her to flutter awake, yawn, and rub her sleepy eyes. Hope would scratch that one place just under her rib cage that she always scratched. She would smile and laugh. Except for now.

Clint rubbed his thighs, he felt a small bump in one of his pockets. the archer pulled out his gift to her. A gold chain, with two charms, a feather and an arrow. Clint reached up and fastened the golden chain around his sweetheart's neck. He looked at her face, marred by the tubes that led oxygen into her lungs. His eyes welled up more.

Clint noticed a clipboard at the foot of her bed, containing medical info. He grabbed the clipboard and read off to himself the listings:

Name:Hope Rosette Barton

Age: 14

Blood type: AB+

State: Comatose, hormonal and traumatic brain damage detected.

Recovery: unlikely.

Clint placed his hands on his face and looked at his little songbird, seeing that necklace resting on her collarbones with the chance that she will die broke Clint's heart beyond repair. He pushed his face into the skin of his forearm, forgetting that he had still neglected to tend to his own wounds from the battle. To not even change clothing.

Clint slid his hand under the minty green covers of the bed and caressed Hope's side. His fingers slid over a Y-shaped cut, bandaged and stitched. Clint's eyes changed from the somber gray of grief, to a frustrated, angry, confused, and devastated black. Clint laid his head down on her bed and cried.

Clint sobbed on the foot of her bed until exhaustion from grief and the battle slowly and gently creeped over his body. Clint's tears dried up. His breathing steadied, and slowed. Clint's mind wandered up to memories of the early morning. The last time he heard his baby girl laugh. Dreams that seemed so long ago.

ᎧᎧᎧ

_Clint poured his bowl of lucky charms. He glanced at the microwave clock, 8:30. He did often wake up earlier. Apparently so did Bruce. Who stood next to him making bacon. His hair was no messier than it normally was. Bruce was adorned in dark green pants, and a black shirt.__Clint looked down at his own purplish-maroon pants and gray tee._

_He started at the sound of relaxed tiny footsteps. The archer looked up to see his baby rubbing her eyes behind her glasses. Wearing a pale pink tank top and spring green-striped pants. Hey were half a size too big, as they bunched slightly at her feet. Clint always knew she would be small. He made his way over to his still drowsy niece. _

_"Good morning, princess. You look nice and tired." he chuckled as he pulled his 5'3" sweetheart close to him. Hope smiled at him and kissed his cheek. Clint returned the cheek to her nose._

_"And judging by the fact that you still haven't switched to your contacts, I'm guessing you slept well too." She laughed._

_Clint let go of her waist and continued munching on his cereal marshmallows. Hope grabbed the handle of the stainless steel fridge and began searching for mango Chobani yogurt. Bruce tapped Clint's shoulder as he began pouring a glass of apple juice._

_"No matter how much you deny it, Katniss. Everyone knows you are an amazing parent. How the hell do you do it? I mean, Tony isn't bad with his son, but, come on! You have to have SOME Form of secret." the scientist stated to Clint._

_"I guess it all depends on freedom and how you discipline." Clint sighed. "I mean, she had a rough early childhood, so, I gave her a lot of assurance and freedom. I haven't ever really been the spanking or slapping type either; but she's never been one for trouble beyond little pranks on other agents. Stuff like that. Except with all the work we do it never really had to be that hard." Bruce nodded._

_"But what about like puberty, and girly things, stuff like that." He asked._

_"Clint never talked to me about that stuff." Hope interrupted, drawing the attention of the two men._

_"I've grown up in a digital society, I just kinda figured out how stuff like that works through the Internet. It's actually a proven study that kids on the Internet are much more comfortable talking to friends, or even strangers, than their parents, or in this case, uncles, about that stuff."_

_Both men nodded._

_"How, exactly do you mean learning by the Internet?" Bruce asked warily. Hope, taking a bite out of her yogurt smiled. _

_"Asking questions on like tumblr, where you can be anonymous. Or on like google answers, but to be honest, you just kind of figure out how it works. Not in a weird way, just, figuring it out." Hope explained._

_ "Well, looks like you dodged a bullet, Hunger Games." Bruce laughed. Clint laughed too, relieved that he didn't ever have to explain sex to anyone. He looked up to the sound of Peter, Natasha, Tony, and Steve lazily stepping into the main room. The sleepy avengers looked over their glasses-clad comrades._

_Natasha yawned, and took the jug of apple juice from the bar counter and poured herself a glass. She had on a light blue tank top, and black yoga pants. Steve began to munch on a muffin, clad in matching light blue striped flannel pajamas. Tony, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, and reddish orange bottoms, began to laugh at Clint's glasses._

_"heheh guess we didn't get the bifocal memo!" He tiredly joked. Hope, Clint and Bruce gave Tony an exasperated look._

_"you guys look fine." Steve murmured through his blueberry muffin crumb smeared face._

_"Y'all bitches be lookin' FIERCE!" Natasha loudly laughed. Peter, in his white shirt and bluish gray bottoms guffawed and grabbed the lucky charms. The avengers continued with their conversations. _

_"Hey, stark, when's Pepper due with Michael?" Hope questioned. _

_"Four months!" Tony happily exclaimed._

_ Clint felt his phone vibrate on his crotch. He picked it up. _

_"Hello?" He answered goofily._

_"'sup birdie!" Maria's chipper voice fell through._

_"Hey Maria, is there a problem? Do we need to come in?" He asked._

_"Unfortunately, Loki's being a little shit. Thor's appeared here and is waiting for you guys, so get your asses here!" Maria half-heartedly laughed. Clint ended the call._

_"Hey guys, Loki's being a little shit, we need to take him down."_

_ᎧᎧᎧ_

_Clint stood with Peter on top of the Chrysler building. His back turned to Hope, who watched as Loki began monologuing to Thor In the noon sunlight._

_"Peter, I red to ask you something. When you and Hope fight, she has a tendency to stray away. the aliens think she's weak because of her small complex, I want you to keep her safe, okay." Peter promised._


	7. Chapter 7

Falling asleep Ch.7  
Clint

"Clint go home it's been two days" Natasha pleaded through the phone line.

"No, I just want to stay here" Clint firmly put down. He hadn't moved from Hope's bedsidlvl since the accident. He had slept in his chair all night those two days. He couldn't bear to leave her side again. He wouldn't. He remembered, glancing at her necklace, back to the day he gave it to her.

_The year was 2003, Hope's father had just murdered his wife. Hope had disappeared. Clint, at age 24, wasn't exactly prepared for this, I mean sure, he'd been at SHIELD since his 21st birthday, but still. Clint didn't know what to do. His only kin left was now missing, probably terrified and angry, sad, confused. He needed to find her._

_However, in the streets of the largest city in the country,__ he had NO IDEA where she could be. Clint walked frantically through the streets of New York. He checked through allyways, through bus stops. There was only so far a four year old girl could go before getting caught by someone. The archer wasn't going to let that happen. He rounded the corner of a large skyscraper, and stopped at the quietest whimper._

_Clint peeked into the alleyway. It was dark and muddy. A big green dumpster full of flies and garbage to his right, and to his left, a dirty box. Clint quietly tiptoed over to the filthy cardboard, he heard the whimper again._

_"Mommy, why did you have to die?" A little voice squeaked. Clint felt his heart shatter. He had found his new child, but not in the way he wanted to. _

_"Hope? sweetheart, it's me, it's your uncle Clint." He kneeled down and lifted the box. His emaciated niece stopped crying and turned her head. Clint pulled her tightly into his chest, running his hands through her dirty hair. Hope's wide, glittering hazel eyes filled with tears. _

_"Uncle Clint, I watched Mommy die..." Clint held her tighter dad she bawled._

_"I know sweetheart, and daddy can't take care of you now, that's for me. I'm going to take care of you now. I'm going to keep you safe. I'll show you to SHIELD. It's going to be okay sweetheart, from now on you'll be safe." Hope nodded her toddler sized head. _

_"Okay Clint." She cried._

_Clint let go of her, he pulled a small syringe from his jacket. _

_"Okay, now if you hold still, this won't hurt. It's just going to make you sleep, then you'll wake up in a few hours safe and sound in a nice, clean bed." Hope nodded. Clint poked the tiny needle into her arm. He pushed down on the plunger and removed the device. _

_"See, wasn't so bad." Hope rubbed her shoulder. Her eyes were already beginning to look drowsy. _

_"Carry me?" She quietly asked. Clint pulled her up to his chest and stood up, resting her head against his shoulder. He noted a lot of looks from teenage couples, mainly groups of girls and looks from other parents._ "This must be pretty cute" _he thought to himself. He made arrangements back to SHIELD HQ. Clint registered himself in and made his way to Director Fury's office._

_"Director." He acknowledged._

_"good, you found her. Put her in your room and clean her up, then when she wakes up, tell her how everything will work." Clint nodded, he exited the office with his sleeping toddler. _

_Clint quickly washed her up, which was strangely not awkward at all, "_probably because she's four"_ he reasoned with himself. Clint changed her into an old T shirt he had when he was 14, he tucked her into his bed and lightly kissed her forehead. _

_"Happy Birthday sweetheart, I love you." He whispered to her. He pulled out of his leather jacket a small black box. He opened it to check and see if its contents were still intact. Yes, it was. Clint pulled the arrow and feather necklace out of its box and gently placed it on his lamp. He kissed his child's forehead again and exited the room to do paperwork. _

_Upon returning two hours later, Clint opened the door to his room. Hope still was I'm the bed, but in a new position. Clint smiled and slightly laughed to himself._

_"Wake up sweetie." He gingerly shook Hope's shoulder. She groaned and opened her eyes. _

_"Uncle Clint?" She murmured._

_"it's just Clint" he whispered. Hope sat up and hugged him tightly. Clint grabbed the necklace from his nightstand and clasped it around her neck. She looked down at the charms. _

_"Hope, these charms mean something, see. The arrow means that no matter what, you can always shoot straight-" _

_"wait, but what if I can't shoot straight I can't shoot arrows, I'm not strong enough!" Hope asked. _

_"It's a metaphor, it means something other than what you say it means... Uh, that didn't make sense. The point is, the metaphor of shooting straight means you can make the right decisions in life. Besides, I'll teach you how to shoot real arrows!"_

_"Oh" Clint smiled. _

_"The feather means that you will spread out your wings one day and fly on your own. The metaphor is that one day I won't be around to keep you safe. I __hope that day doesn't come around for a long time, but when it does, I know that you will be brave and strong through the experience." Clint looked at Hope, she had drifted back to sleep. Her tiredness and age overtaking her. _

_"And the third charm... The third charm." Clint looked at the little glass heart. _

_"The third charm means that I will always love you. I will never stop loving you no matter what you do, whether you get drunk or pregnant, or addicted to something. If you become distant, or rebellious, or angry with me, anything. I will NEVER EVER love you any less." Clint looked at his sleeping niece. _

_"Never. And that's a promise I can keep. Because I can't promise your safety, you live this life now, you will be tortured, you will be injured, you will most likely get raped at least once. But the only thing you need to do is call out for me. Because no matter where I am, no matter how injured or tired or angry I am with you, I would never let you get hurt. You are my world now, Hope. Please remember that. Please. You're all I have left._


	8. Chapter 8

Falling asleep Ch.8  
Hope

Hush my little mockingbird just, close your eyes.

Lay down your tired head and sleep tonight.

Oh, my little darling girl spread out your wings.

You will fly with me, you'll fly.

If you want a chickadee, I'll buy.

If you have a nightmare just don't cry.

Little darling girl, I'll always be there.

To hold on tight and stroke your hair.

Hush my little mockingbird, beware.

danger's out and trying to hurt anywhere.

little darling girl, please can't you see?

I want you safe with me

Hush my little mockingbird just, close your eyes.

Lay down your tired head and sleep tonight.

Oh, my little darling girl spread out your wings.

You will fly with me


	9. Chapter 9

okay, I'm sorry I got this published WAY later than I would have liked to, but today I graduated from 8th grade and my parents took me and my twin sister and our older brother your to celebrate since he just graduated 12th grade... I'm super sorry you guys... Can I make it up to you PLEASE!

Falling Asleep Ch.9

Clint

The rain pattered on the wall-sized window to the left of Clint's burgundy bedsheets. Tony had discovered that Clint loved to be close to the sky, so he built Clint and Hope two stunning custom bedrooms with window walls overlooking the gorgeous city. Hope had been skeptical about a window of that size, claiming that she had less privacy. However, tony had pointed out that they were living on the 97th floor of the building, and nobody would be able to see her. That specific bedroom had been completely untouched for almost two months. No one had even dared to open the door. No one but Clint. He hadn't really visited Hope in a while. He sighed as he remembered why. He remembered what happened after two weeks of her hospitalization.

_Clint was showering. The steam from the hot water filled the room, relaxing his tense muscles. Clint let the searing hot water pound onto his face, washing his conscious, letting soap and shampoo run down his body. Upon leaving the actual shower. Clint looked in the mirror._

_"Good god! I need to shave!"_

_Clint sat on his bed in his towel, freshly shaven and playing on his phone. Natasha entered his room._

_"Clint, I need to tell you something." Natasha murmured. Clint stood up, his towel dropping slightly. He quickly pulled it up, blushing._

_"Oh, stop being a squeamish girl Clint, you know I've seen it, go put on some pants._

_"Whatever you say Nat" Clint passively obeyed. It was true. Natasha had seen him nude on several occasions. Yet each time was more awkward than the last. Clint threw on a pair of boxers, the pair of jeans he wore when Loki and Thor were taken back to Asgard for the first time, and a gray T shirt, he sat back down on his bed next to Tasha._

_"Clint, while you were in the shower, Dr. Panem called. He told us that Hope's condition had gotten worse, and that she was on and off life support." Clint's heart, swelled had swelled with happiness and lightheartedness at the jokes he had been prepared to hear exploded and fell down to his toes._

_"Wait, what do you mean? Off and on life support?"_

_"She is alternating between needing the machines to keep her alive and barely not."_

_"But-"_

_"Clint, there's nothing we can do about it." Natasha pleaded._

_"no, Nat. There's gotta be something I can do-"_

_"Clint you can't do anything to save her." Natasha pleaded. Clint shut his mouth._

_"Then leave." He quietly murmured._

_"I just wanted to tell you. Everyone else told me no." Natasha pleaded, standing up._

_"please, leave." Clint half growled, half moaned, and half cried._

_Natasha exited the room._

_Clint furrowed his brow, then wailed._

_"GOD DAMMIT HOPE, WHY ARE YOU DYING? WHY CANT I DO ANYTHING?!" Clint screamed at the top of his lungs and fell back onto his soft bed. He squeezed burning tears from his stormy gray eyes. The archer looked out the window wall. __Storm clouds began to form. The same color of his eyes._

_Clint stood up and threw himself over to the window. He unlatched the balcony door and ran out. The choking air from his room almost suffocating him. He took deep breaths and let his tears of anger spill. Thunder cracked above him. The light flashed over his head. Rain began to shoot down in icy droplets over Clint. In seconds he was soaked. Clint buried his face in nothing. He gripped tightly on the metal fencing rail. He gripped it so hard that a glass piece cracked._

_"HOPE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE WAKE UP!" He screamed. He screamed until his voice gave out. He collapsed on his balcony and wailed, tears falling in huge rivulets down his face, with rain and thunder around him. _

_Clint felt a soft hand caressing his face. He opened his exhausted eyes to see Hope, smiling, she had tears falling down her face. Hope helped him up. She pulled him into his room and draped a towel over him. Clint watched her face, beyond words of describing his joy. Hope's face began to fade. Clint reached out but only made contact with his partner. Natasha._

Since that event, one by one, each avenger had slowly descended into a gray, dark, cold quiet; even Tony himself who always tried to brighten things up. Leaving the whole world in mourning for the lost heroes.

Leading the descent into grayness, Clint had memorized every curve of fabric, every little smudge he had left on his bedside table from scrambling to grab his glasses in the morning. He had even traced the patterns and scratches on his bow with his fingers. He hadn't had a good long practice with his precious toy in days. He hadn't really moved at all in weeks, he just sat there in his king-sized bed and moaned or cried. Losing a loved one really takes its toll.

The rest of the Avengers were in similar moods. They just stayed indoors or ate excessively. No one tried to cheer up Clint, there was no point. After going to the doctor for a checkup, he found out that he had become depressed and was given anti-depression pills. Of course, being the most stubborn asshole in existence, he refused taking them. He sat up, and made in his mind that he should probably start by now.

After going into the kitchen to get the pills, Clint sat down on the sink in his bathroom. A habit that ran in the family.

"Labels,labels." He quietly said to himself. "Take one every three hours?" Reasonable. Clint swallowed the dose... 20 minutes passed, Nothing.  
"Hmmm..." 'Well, I'm sure one more dose shouldn't hurt.' Clint thought to himself.

One pill down. Ten minutes, nothing. 'Should I take Two?' He stared. Something felt off. Like things were getting blurry in the back of his mind. 'Do it wuss' he scolded himself... Then swallowed. Still nothing. 'I knew I shouldn't have done that' Clint sighed.

All of the sudden. An exploding headache rammed into his head. The force of the pain knocked him onto the floor, resulting in a very loud crash.

"Clint?" Came the worried voice of Natasha. Clint moaned in pain. These drugs were super effective.

He felt Natasha's hand on his shoulders shaking him. She was soaking wet and cold, suggesting that she had been out on her balcony, standing in the rain And thinking. Something she liked to do. Clint's mind began to fog out into a weird throbbing blur of color and light. Even the sounds around him were becoming distorted and unfamiliar.

"Clint, what did you do..."


	10. Chapter 10

IM SO SORRY I DIDNT PUBLISH ANYTHING YESTERDAY HERE'S THIS CHAPTER TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU!

Falling asleep Ch. 10  
Natasha

Natasha worriedly eyed Clint in the ER, he was curled into the fetal position on the white medical table and was shaking. Dr. Panem was slowly reading and checking paper files on his clipboard, occasionally making a grunt or clearing his throat. He checked one after another over both the report of the incident and the blood that he took from Clint.

"Okay, so, how did this happen." He quietly asked.

"He hadn't taken his pills since he was given them, that was... Six weeks ago. And then today, he suddenly just took three pills and passed out and hit his head on the edge of a bathroom drawer, and that's how I found him." Natasha explained, quickly realizing how stupid the whole story sounded. She inwardly cursed Clint as he moaned on the table.

"Okay, well, I'm going to get him situated. He'll probably stay here for a night or two, depending on if he was allergic to anything in the drug or of there were any other weird reactions. In the meantime, I'm guessing you probably want to see Hope Ms. Romanov?" The doctor sighed.

"Yeah, I guess I can. Clint, don't do anything too stupid while I'm gone." Natasha answered. Clint moaned something too inarticulate and quiet for Natasha to hear.

ᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧ

"You know, I personally think Clint was trying to commit suicide, he really misses you that much." Natasha lazily flicked Hope's bangs around her head with her small fingers, Hope remained completely stone-still. Her breathing, although still labored, but not as liquidey, was the telltale sign that told the Russian that she was alive. Natasha calmly noticed and looked up and around the bright room.

Tony, Thor, Steve, Bruce, and Pepper had put up ribbons and bright balloons around the room to celebrate Hope's missed anniversary of becoming a training student to Natasha, something very popular and celebrated at SHIELD. Could it already be past April tenth? Hope's injury had happened back in early January. Time really passes.

There was a huge stack of get well cards on the nightstand by Natasha's chair, undoubtedly from agents at SHIELD, Hope's friends, and her fellow avengers. Natasha flipped through the stack, there was even a card from Director Fury.  
'Impressive'. the spy thought to herself.

There was an air of cheer that lifted the feeling of sadness off of Natasha's shoulders. She jumped at the sound of voices in the hall, and whirled around to see the strangely sad, yet smiling face of Tony, in a tight black shirt and gray cargo pants, wearing black converse sneakers.

His Arc- Reactor was glowing electric blue and gave off a light radiance of blue light throughout he room. Natasha faintly remembered back to the day of Hope's injury, she had seen Tony when he had heard of the surgery, before the fight they had all had... His chest hadn't been glowing when Steve had informed him of the news... Natasha realized with a snap back to the present. The fact that Hope had been through such a horrifying and bloody and painful moment... Had literally broken the heart of the genius-billionaire.

"Remember when you told me how she loved the moonlight through windows in her room, and sometimes fell asleep looking at constellations out on her balcony?" Tony whispered. There was no need to whisper... The hallway outside the doors was completely vacant. Yet, Natasha sensed in the older man's tone that he was treating Hope as if she were asleep, and he wished not to disturb her... Maybe Tony stark wasn't as hard-headed and tough as everyone presumed him to be, maybe he had a soft spot for someone besides Pepper...

"Well, I decided that that observatory I was building for me and Pepper should be changed into a viewing platform for her. I know it can't even begin to make up for what I said about her all those months ago, about how she was unimportant, and how we were overreacting, I was so wrong."

Tony sat down next to Natasha and deftly rubbed his hand down Hope's shoulder.

"You hear that, Sweetheart? I'm making a room in my tower just for you to look at the stars, it's going to have a powerful telescope that can see planets and stars up close and everything! I'm going to call it the birds nest; after you and Clint. A place for you two to talk and have fun, point out the constellations, be close to the sky. A place to be alone and talk about whatever you want. Does that sound nice? All you have to do is wake up."

Natasha stared at Tony, she had only seen him this gentle with Pepper, which confirmed her suspicions about how much he really cared about the young assassin. Tony ruffled both girls' hair and left, whistling show tunes.

Natasha smiled. And whispered to hope before leaving to find Clint. "I saw the birthday card you left in my car all that time ago, thank you."

ᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧᎧ

Clint was regaining consciousness from the procedure done to flush the chemicals from his system.

"Nat, I feel like shit. Do you mind if I lay my head on your lap?" Natasha sat by him in another chair.

"Of course not"

Clint scooted over in the bed to let Natasha sit by him. She sat on top of the covers and curled his head in her chest. She rested her chin in his soft, golden-brown hair. She gently swirled and ran her fingers throughout the curls, waves and natural patterns over and over until she began to blissfully hum. It was an old Russian lullaby. Clint sighed tiredly and looked up at her.

"I've always loved when you sing your songs, even when I can't understand them, I still love to listen. If I could sing a song you didn't know, would you listen?" He yawned. His ashy gray eyes looking sleepier every second.

"Yes" Natasha whispered to her sleepy partner, her own emerald eyes beginning to feel heavy.

Clint's eyelids began to slowly ease their way shut over his fogging, drowsy eyes as the Russian lullaby gently lulled him to sleep. Natasha lowered her voice until she was barely murmuring in his ear. She felt Clint's chest begin to rise and fall in a slower, softer pattern that told her that she had gently sang him into a deep slumber. Natasha slowly stroked his cheek with her thumb and quietly slid out of the bed. She gingerly laid him down on his side. He looked so innocent and sweet when he was asleep. Natasha couldn't hide a yawn herself. That song always made her ready to go to bed.

"Clint? Do you hear her laugh? Do you see her smile? Do you feel her touch as she hugs you? Do you remember all that? Even though you haven't had it in so long. Do you remember who Hope is?" Natasha caressed her partners sleeping face.

"Because I remember. I remember everything about her. I want to know if you can see her now, as you sleep. Can you see her in your dreams? Does she say anything?" Natasha smiled to herself, she only wished she could know what his mind was wandering around with, who he was dreaming of... Whether it be her, or Hope, or maybe his brother, Barney, she wouldn't know.


	11. Chapter 11

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE! FEELS FEELS FEELS FEELS FEELS!

Falling asleep Ch. 11  
Hope

Muffled voices everywhere.

Patterns of stars and light with darkness.

Clint's laugh and a quick flash of him smiling, a genuine smile that was truly content and happy that only few could draw from him.

Loki staring into the bright blue light of the tesseract, an evil grin upon his face as Bruce roars in the distance.

Natasha pleading for help when pinned under a wrecked car door. Long before the tesseract event. Her long red hair soaked in her own blood from pieces of glass puncturing her skin.

Hope was in a pool of deep, black water. Her lungs were screaming for air. Everything was fading to black, noises were dimming. All she could feel was her own heartbeat throbbing inside her weakened chest faster, faster, and the blood rushing on her veins.

Phil giving her a big hug and a band aid when she was six, she had scraped her knee running and Clint was in a faraway city named Budapest with Natasha.

The darkness had all but clouded in all of her vision when a sliver of light peaked through. She found new strength and used the last few drops of energy she had to reach that light. She had almost gotten out to the shine when she splashed out of the water coughing and throwing up water. The memories all resurfaced in her mind clearer than ever.

Tony saying something about stars and planets

Natasha saying something about a birthday card

Suicide.

Clint's feet stepping into a room. She could tell all around her that she was not underwater, but... lying down, on something soft and solid and comfortable, a bed maybe? Clint whispered to her something. She couldn't quite make it out.

Clint murmuring about how Hope looked like her mother.

She felt that Natasha had left a while ago. Probably a few days ago. Hope felt so alive. Why had she not felt this way. The last thing she had remembered was going into some kind of surgery, an intense pain in her side, then being nothing or underwater ever since...

"Hope, I love you too much to let go, but if it is your time to go, I don't want to stop it, because I know that one day... We WILL see each other again..."

Hope began to feel the ends of her limbs. her fingers, her toes, all of her joints and what little muscle there was left. She strained to move, and she felt a twitch in her fingers as she let out a low moan...


	12. Chapter 12

Falling asleep Ch. 12  
Clint  
Clint trotted down the white, sterile halls. He frantically checked the room numbers in the children's wing. His eyes lit up when he located room 407c, the room he was searching for. Hope's room.

"God, this hospital probably hates me..." Clint muttered to himself as he came up too the door, remembering how his stay here was unpleasant. The archer stopped in front of the door, he hadn't been inside in eight weeks, he hadn't really felt very awake since the three month mark of... No, he wasn't going to think about it.

Clint had been discharged from the hospital the previous day. Yet, he still felt compelled to come back and make up for the lost time he had taken up in the eight weeks that he had been a lazy, moaning piece of crap.

The marksman quietly stepped into the hospital room, his eyes widened when he saw all the decorations. Most of them were in the blue, green, and bright yellow color scheme. Making the room, with its large window overlooking the New York skyline, look very happy and cheered up.

Clint tiptoed over to the bed, he located the chair beside it and quietly sat down on the cushiony fabric, which had worn down to the shape of random visitors' butts. Clint stared at her with saddened eyes, he bent his head down and pressed his lips on her forehead... Just above her eyebrow. He rested his lips there as he stretched his hand up and placed it on her cold right shoulder. He lifted his head up and gently slid his hand down to gingerly hold onto his niece's limp hand.

Clint noticed how delicate she looked, like a small white rose in a nest of thorns and brambles. He listened to her breathing. It was no longer labored and full of liquid; but rather, it was close to normal, except that it was slow. He quietly murmured in her ear.

"Did I tell you that I told Natasha a few years back that you look like your mother, Emilia?" He paused for a few seconds,

"Because you do. You have her bright hazel eyes, and they were big too, just like yours. I would love to see them again."

He stopped and stood slowly up. He really had to pee.

"I'm gonna go just for a second, but, I'll be back really soon to talk to you more."

When he returned from the bathroom, he eased his way back down on the seat. He smiled at her unconscious form and daftly gripped her hand, he pulled it up to his face and pressed it to his lips, and whispered one more thing.

"Hope, I love you too much to let go, but if it is your time to go, I don't want to stop it, because I know that one day... We WILL see each other again..."

Clint noticed something shift on Hope's eyes. They twitched. Her fingers curled slowly, Clint set her hand back down on the minty green sheets. He sat back in his chair. Hope moaned quietly and furrowed her brow, she let another, louder moan escape her dry throat before cracking open her sleepy eyes. She blinked a little and opened them wider. Hope turned her head. Her confused eyes still looked foggy, but they were full of recognition, surprise, happiness, and so many other emotions; but with an underlying flicker of strength that Clint had missed so much.

Clint's stormy gray eyes began to water as he smiled in full jubilation. Hope returned the smile, and for the first time in months, he heard her speak. He was surprised, also relieved that it wasn't something cliché, like, "I'm not leaving." She instead whispered in a rusty, under-used tone..

"Clint?"

Clint smiled wider as the tears of joy fell in rivulets down his face and he answered in a choked-up manner,

"I'm here."

Hope smiled again and gingerly sat up, and looked at him with utter confusion.

"Where am I?"

Clint couldn't contain himself anymore. He snatched her up and smothered her face with short kisses, all while laughing loudly. Clint let his tears of happiness spill, he didn't care off Hope saw him cry. He kissed all over her face. Mainly her cheeks, forehead, and finally, landing a longer one on her nose. He nuzzled his face into her small shoulder as he hugged her way tighter than he should have, considering her medical condition and the fact that she had begun coughing. Tears were staining her spotted hospital gown; but he was getting a similar reaction from Hope.

Hope was giggling the entire time and was pulling him into a hug which lasted for three straight minutes. They eventually pulled away from each other. Hope took that opportunity to kiss him repeatedly on the forehead. She grabbed tightly onto his sandy crop of hair while he ran his fingers gently through hers. It was much longer than before and fell down past her chest and down to her midsection. She let out a small squeak of pain when Clint accidentally pressed his hand on her side.

"Ow... Clint, that really hurts, why does it hurt?"

"Yo-you, you don't remember?"

Clint asked. His voice became worried, and grave.

"I remember that I went into surgery for something that hurt there, but... It should have stopped hurting after a few hours of sleep."

Hope's eyes began to panic.

"I was asleep for only a few hours... Right?"


	13. Chapter 13

Falling asleep Ch.13

Hope

Clint frowned, a look of desperation, regret and sadness overtook his face.

"I was only out for a few hours... Right?" Hope became increasingly worried. She noticed that there were decorations and a stack of cards by her nightstand. This only worsened her mood. Something was VERY, VERY wrong.

"You may have been out a little longer than a few hours..." Clint murmured guiltily.

"How long was I really asleep, Clint." Hope quietly asked; intensity and fear filled her still rusty voice, she began to panic. Her heart began to race.

"Um, well, more like... Three... months... or so..." Clint barely whispered.

"But it's okay! Really! You didn't-"

"TH- THREE MONTHS?!" Hope moaned. She felt her eyes began to fill with tears as she began to cry.

_I'm so pathetic and stupid, _she thought to herself, _why am I so pitiful._

Hope began to breathe heavily as her tears fell onto her sheets. She watched Clint's look switch from guilt to pain as his own eyes welled up.

"No, don't cry sweetie, it'll be okay, you'll see. Shhhh. Shhhhh, it's okay, it's okay, sweetheart it's okay." Clint soothed as he stroked hopes bangs.

Hope's foggy teared up eyes closed as she felt Clint wrap himself around her. She brought her hands up to her chin and laid her head in the side of his neck. She sniffed and wailed. All while listening to the faint sound of Clint cooing her.

Hope let the tears fall from her eyes, the heat of the water rolling down her cheeks was nice. She felt cold. Hope felt her body spasm weakly, she let it rock her as Clint let his own tears fall. Hope knew that those tears weren't the same as hers, she was crying tears of shame, his tears were of joy and pride and pity.

Hope's wails were toned down to weak cries as her body weakened. Eventually, she ran out of tears to cry out.

Hope let herself relax on his shoulders. Her loud cries were replaced with lower whimpers, and then gave way to heavy breathing.

"I'm proud of you sweetheart, you pulled through. That's all I care about, it doesn't matter how long you took; what matters is that you're okay, shhh, shhh..." Clint trailed off.

Hope felt Clint's calloused fingers stroke her soft hair, she lifted her head and wiped her cheek with her arm. Clint smiled at her, he caught the tears flowing down her other cheek.  
The songbird sniffed and let her head rest on his shoulder. She dug her face into the soft fabric of the front of his faded red shirt.

Hope dragged her hands out from under her chest and wrapped them around her uncle, who was completely silent. She still felt his fingers running gently through her sandy brown hair. clint kissed her shoulder, seeing as that was the only place he could reach, and murmured to her softly.

"Sweetheart, you're not weak. If anything, I'm the proudest person ion the world because you pulled through. That's all that matters to me, you're safe now."

Hope slowly nodded to Clint, and let her body give way to exhaustion, it hadn't done this much work in a long time. Her body had deteriorated she felt very thin, and tired.

"it's okay, Hope, you will feel better in a few days, just relax. You have nothing to worry about. I love you, so much, it almost hurts."

Hope let her body relax, it was no longer pressed against her uncle's chest, but rather was supported by him. She smiled, she liked the idea of taking a quick nap. The assassin let her breathing quiet, and let her exhausted eyes slide shut.

Her arms slid off of Clint's upper back and lightly bounced on the fluffy mattress under her. She soon was asleep in his warm, secure arms. Her mind, exhausted from its ordeal, slipped into quiet bliss. For the first time in forever, Hope began to dream.


	14. Chapter 14

Falling asleep Ch.14  
Clint

clint smiled. He stroked his sleeping baby's hair as gently as possible.

"It's okay sweetheart, it's okay, it's okay." He quietly whispered as he laid her down gently.

"I've gotcha, I'm not gonna let you get hurt like this ever again, I won't let you die in front of me." He whispered. Hope's eyes fluttered. She had begun to dream about something. Clint stroked her smooth cheek with his roughened fingers. He traveled his hand down to her jawline, down, whisking over her neck and chest, and landing on her scar. The stitches had long ago dissolved, and plenty of scar tissue had formed.

Clint set his hand down by his side. He gently kissed Hope's temple.

"I love you sweetie." He murmured into her ear.

He sat up and turned to the door. Watching the sun begin to sink behind the buildings of New York. Clint quietly opened the door and shimmied out of the room.

Clint walked casually down the white hallway. He rounded a corner and bumped into Dr. Panem, making him drop his clipboard and papers. The doctor sighed, frustrated.

"on so sorry, dr. Panem! It's just that Hope woke up and-"

"wait? Hope woke up?" Dr. Panem stared at Clint in surprise.

"that kid is fucking tough, man!" The doctor exclaimed. Clint stared at him in confusion. This guy had FEELINGS?!

"yeah, my shifts about to end, and my wife just had our first baby, justice, a few days ago. I can't wait to get home and help her." The doctor sheepishly explained.

"oh," Clint stammered, then smiled. "Get ready for the ride of your life." Clint warned. "and... Give her freedom." He advised. The younger doctor nodded and smiled.

"Yes, anyway. I'm going to need to check on how she's feeling and if there's any brain damage, y'know, stuff like that. You go home and tell the team about Hope." Dr. Panem stuttered, then smiled.

"yeah, guess I should do that. Um, when can she come home?"

"Depending on how she had recovered, a minimum of three days."

Clint smiled, he could wait three days for his baby, hell, he'd swim across the English Channel in winter to keep her safe. Three days was nothing.

"Hey guys!" Clint skipped into the main room at stark tower. Natasha looked up, wearing a black three quarter sleeve shirt and khakis. Steve was adorned with his creamy beige army T shirt, Tony wore his black sabbath shirt, and Bruce, the usual collared shirt of light yellow. Peter stepped into the room in a white shirt and jeans, wearing his converses.

"what?" Steve absently asked. Obviously paying more attention to spongebob.

"Guess what happened today in the hospital." Clint strained to hide his joy as the other avengers began to stare at him in fear for what might have happened.

"What happened Clint?" Natasha worriedly asked, her eyes wide.

"She woke up" Clint squeaked in joy. Natasha stared at him, her mouth agape and turning into a huge smile. Tony began to laugh, along with Steve. Bruce sprouted a massive grin from ear to ear, and Peter had tears streaming down his face while smiling. Clint began to laugh and cry, they all began to laugh and cry at the same time. Natasha pulled Clint in for a short kiss on the cheek. Clint returned it. Steve got his car keys and shoved them into his pocket.

"I'll be back in a few minutes!" He quickly yelled before running out the door.

"WAIT STEVE, THE DOCTOR SAID WE CAN'T SEE HER UNTIL TOMORROW!" Clint yelled after him.

"IM NOT GOING TO SEE HER!" Steve answered from down the hall from the elevator.

Clint began to giggle and hugged Natasha. Tony gave Clint a short man hug then ran to his alcohol fridge.

"Guys, this calls for one hell of a celebration!" He shouted. Tony brought out several bottles of drink. Clint grabbed glasses from the cupboard underneath. The avengers started to drink a celebration out. Except for Peter. Peter sat in the corner and recorded on his phone their drunken adventures.

After about two hours, Natasha finally collapsed and began to snore. Peter giggled and took pictures. Natasha sleeping on top of Clint's chest, and Tony and Bruce asleep in each others arms. Peter heard the elevator door open, and Steve walk into the room with a large bag sling over his shoulder and a larger brown box riddled with holes.

"You didn't" Peter gasped in excitement.

"Oh, I did. And if anyone objects they can tell it to my shield. Now say hello to Liberty." Steve set the squirming box on the floor and unzipped his bag. He placed two little bowls over by the kitchen. And filled one with water. Steve grabbed a can from his bag and slipped the brown insides into the other bowl. The soldier ran back to the box, which was now whimpering. He i nlatched the door and stepped back.

Out popped a little golden retriever puppy, panting and smiling. Peter began to laugh. Liberty bounded over to the spider and began to lick his face.

"It's so adorable!" Peter laughed between licks.

"I know, she is." Steve smiled. Liberty barked and ran over to Clint and Natasha. The puppy lapped their faces eagerly.

"What the fu-" Clint snapped before being stopped by another lick.

"AWWE!" Natasha laughed. Picking up the puppy, Natasha drunkenly puppy-voiced liberty.

"What's his name?" Clint asked, scratching liberty on the neck.

"Her name is Liberty." Steve smiled. He dug through the bag some more and pulled out a red, white, and blue collar.

"She's already house trained too, so that's a plus, and besides. When the birds nest is made, you guys wouldn't mind if she did her business up there?"

"Nah, it's real grass, just as long as she goes in the corner and not out in the open."

Steve smiled. Clint laughed. Today had probably been one if the best days if his life. Hope was going to be okaytht hey had a new dog, michael stark was due in a month, and Pepper's long, six-month vacation to the Bahamas to safety keep the stark baby was soon to have Tony along with her. Clint stood up, scratched the happy puppy, and made his way into his room.

Clint walked into his bathroom, still buzzed from the drinks. He grabbed a glass and downed sux cups of sink water.

"Heh, good luck hangover." He lamely joked to himself in a goofy voice. He undressed and showered, then put on light blue pajama pants and a white shirt. The archer slid into his bed, and stared out of his window wall. He quickly glanced at his clock. 10:30. He watched and listened to the city noises below him.

Clint watched until all the lights blurred, the voices, horns, and alarms blurred together. Clint felt his eyes slide shut. He slipped into a light slumber. Somewhere in his dreams he thought he felt Natasha give him a slight kiss, but he wasn't entirely sure.


	15. Chapter 15

Epilogue

Hope groggily answered questions from Ackles doctor. Easy questions, like, what's your name, when were you born. How old are you. TThat stuff. The doctor smiled, and gently rubbed her arm.

"looks like you're pretty good to go. Nothing too bad. I would suggest not doing any extensive reading or concentrating for a few weeks, just in case there's something we missed. However, the good newa is that you can go home in about three days." Hope smiled sleepily.

"Is it normal to be in a coma for three months?" Hope asked, yawning.

"Well, no coma is tThe same, and your side took quite a beating. So, I guess it wasnt on the unusual side, although going under during a surgery is pretty damn rare." Dr. Panem answered. Hope nodded.

"You can go to sleep now, I finished my work, and I'm going home to see my baby."

"You have a baby? Do you have pictures?" Hope excitedly asked.

"sure."

Hope and the doctor flipped through pages and pages of the newborn.

"She's precious." Hope murmured.

"thank you." She said as Dr. Panem stood up.

"for what?"

"Making sure I didn't die."

Dr. Panem smiled.

ᎧᎧᎧ

Hope heard a faint creaking noise. Followed by two voices. She opened her eyes to see Clint and Natasha watching her. Hope smiled and sat up, sunlight spilling through the window and making the Barton's hair gold and Natasha's burning fire.

"Hey Tasha." Hope quietly said. Natasha teared up and hugged Hope tightly. Hope giggled and hugged Natasha back. Natasha let go and pulled a stray hair out of her face.

"I missed you, sis." She laughed. Clint stood awkwardly in the corner.

"I missed you too Natasha, I heard what you said about your birthday card. You're welcome." Natasha's eyes widened.

"So you heard about the fishing lure and the gu-"

"yes Tasha, I heard about it. Why did you pull that prank on Steve without me?"

"Well I can't exactly wake you up"

Hope smiled, she was glad to be okay. She was gonna be alright from now on.

ᎧᎧᎧ

Hope say pin a wheelchair. Dr. Panem standing by her side. Clint on her other side.

"Why do I have to leave in a wheelchair?" She asked.

"You can get out once you get changed and come to the front desk." Clint assured. Hope grumbled. They pulled into the main foyer of the hospital. Hope stpod uup with her wad of clothing and made her way to the bathroom. Hope stood in a changing stall. She reached behind her neck and untied the neck of her gown, then the back, then the very bottom. The papery fabric slid off of her smooth skin. Hope stared in the mirror in front of her. Completely naked besides her necklace. Hope drew a hand up to the small Y-shaped scar on her abdomen. She teared up. It was hideous.

"Hope, ae you almost done?" Clint called through the door.

"yeah, just... Give me a second." Hope stammered. She pulled her tight green V-neck on, and her skinny jeans, her brown uggs. And finally her coat. For mid-March, it was freezing in New York. Hope pulled her hat on and ran out to meet Clint. Clint pulled her close.

"Ready for the end of an age?" Clint murmured before kissing her ear lightly.

"more than anything." Hope answered.

ᎧᎧᎧ

Hope stood in her room. In nothing but tight black shorts and a black sports bra. She stared at the scar, tears filling her eyes. She looked like a monster.

"Hey, Hope, Peter's making tacos and he wa-" Clint stopped when he realized Hope was crying.

"Hope, whatc wrong?" Clint asked, sitting down next to Hope on the white bedspread.

"This..." Hope whispered touching her scar. "I'm a monster, Clint. This is disgusting, it looks horrible." Hope moaned. Clint slipped his arms around her, covering the wound.

" I don't think it's ugly, I think it makes you more beautiful. But, if you really want to, we can have it removed. Hope sniffed and looked up at him, lightly smiling. Clint smiled back. Hope gave a small laugh.

"now, abAbout those tacos..." Clint giggled. Hope smiled wider.

"Extra cheese, and rice, on a crispy shell!" She answered. Clint kissed her temple.

"I promise well get that's car removed soon, just be patient." Clint smiled.

ᎧᎧᎧ

Hope laid in her bed, belly full of delicious tacos. She had taken her first shower in three months, and it felt amazing. She rolled to her side. It was the end. The avengers were back. They were stronger because of this. Pepper was due with Michael in a month, and Tony flew his suit to the Bahamas to spend one glorious month of relaxation with her. Clint had booked a flight to miami to spend two weeks with Hope. Natasha was going with Steve to visit Hawaii and go to Pearl Harbor, and Bruce would stay with Peter here, in New York. Hope smiled. She was finally home, she was finally awake. Hope smiled and let the city lights and ambiance lull her to the best kings of sleep. The kind of sleep that you can promise to wake up from the next day. The sleep of hope.

ᎧᎧᎧ Конец,

(The End)


End file.
